CHAR Technologies
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Owner:
Andrew White
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Jobs Created:
1
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Inception:
2011
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Mentor:
Ghalib Habib
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Industry:
Manufacturing
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Location:
Toronto, Ontario
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Business Profile
Char Technologies produces SulfaCHAR (Activated Bio- Carbon), which is similar to the Activated Carbon you would find in a Brita Filter.
Their SulfaCHAR is produced from the biosolids left over from Bio-Energy plants and is used to clean contaminants out of renewable natural gas (which is produced from landfills or organic waste, and can be used to create electricity). SulfaCHAR not only removes the contaminants, but converts them into a useful product which has further applications in the agricultural sector, creating a truly zero-waste solution.
My Story
An innovative school project
As part of Andrew’s undergraduate degree he worked for 16 months at Ontario Power Generation and quickly realized that working in a large organization wasn’t for him. During his MASc degree, he developed and became very passionate about a very promising technology. Andrew hardly questioned the idea to continue on with the technology as he started his own company and commercialized the technology.
He completed his MASc degree in August, and the next month was enrolled in the MBET program at the University of Waterloo. The MBET program is an accelerated eight-month business program focused on entrepreneurship. It was the perfect fit for someone like Andrew who already had the technology but needed a crash-course in business and entrepreneurship. It was during this program that CHAR Technologies was officially started.
“I love being an entrepreneur because I can wake up every morning and work on something that I am passionate about,” says Andrew. He is on an extremely steep and challenging learning curve which he also loves. “I feel a great deal of satisfaction that what I’ve done, and am doing, is meaningful and not just paper-pushing.
It’s scary and exciting all at once and I’m loving it,” explained Andrew.
Advice
“Go for it! Now is the time to try; when you have the energy, the motivation, less responsibility; and if not now, then when? ”
